177 TO KILL WITH BORROW KNIFE: 36 STRATEGEM
Dan's vision flickered with new data as the massive creature ca into view.
Na: at Heap
Strength Rank: BBB????ta Rank: C
Strength: 1996??|??Charm: 0??|??ta: 323??|??Command: 322
Description: A at Heap forms from the corpses of a thousand corrosivers. Its body is a shifting mass of fused flesh and bone, animated by corrosion energy. It has limited intelligence.
Primary ability: Corrosion.
Dan's expression tightened. "A at Heap…?"
The sight was grotesque… an undulating mound of torn limbs and heads, dripping acid from gaping mouths that still whispered their last screams.
Yet Dan wasn't intimidated by the horror of its sight. He had fought worse.
Killing thousands of corrosivers had strengthened him again. His blood rank had climbed back to BB, and his armor's integrity was at Rank BBB… the peak of its deadly potential.
No civilians were nearby, so there was need to hold back.
Darkness wrapped around him like a living shadow. Silver sparks pulsed from his veins as his body shifted, reshaping into a sleek, jagged silhouette. The Black Halo flared to life across his chest, humming with restrained power.
"Black Halo."
He rose into the air, silver arcs sparking at his heels, until he was eye-level with the monster.
"I want at!" at Heap thundered, its voice a distorted bellow of a thousand throats.
The creature's massive arm swung upward like a collapsing wall, its shadow engulfing Dan. But Dan didn't dodge. He spread his arms, and the Halo on his chest flared and ignited.
"Halo's Judgnt!"
A spear of plasma burst from the core, blinding white edged with silver lightning. It struck at Heap square on the shoulder.
The entire arm vaporized on contact—thousands of fused limbs blown apart into raining chunks.
The shockwave tore through nearby buildings, leaving nothing but smoking ruins.
"That should do it," Dan muttered, lowering his stance.
But then the creature spoke again, its broken jaw gurgling: "I… want… at."
"What the hell?" Dan said.
The scattered remains twitched. The severed pieces began to crawl back, sliding over asphalt, reattaching to the central mass.
Within minutes, the arm had regrown, larger and fouler than before.
Dan snarled and raised his hand.
Another plasma beam flared, this ti punching through the creature's chest, burning a hole clear through. But instead of organs, the interior was just more at.
The plasma sizzled uselessly. The wound sealed itself shut.
"Damn it, the monster has no core, no vitals," he spat. "How the hell do I kill this thing?"
He hovered higher, analyzing.
The monster couldn't fly. As long as he stayed airborne, he was safe.
Then an idea struck.
"Alright, big guy," Dan said, smirking. "You want at? I'll give you plenty."
He lowered just enough to bait the creature.
at Heap bellowed and charged, its body smashing through walls and vehicles, leaving a path of devastation in its wake. Dan led it across the city, a trail of black smoke and collapsing structures behind them.
Ahead, towering above the skyline, stood Zetheris Tower—the proud headquarters of Zetheris Corporation.
"Hey, Shawn Zetheris," Dan muttered with a grin. "I have a birthday present for you. Eat this."
Black Halo streaked forward, dragging the roaring at Heap straight toward the tower.
----
Shawn Zetheris stood in his office, staring out through the glass fa??ade of Zetheris Tower.
Below, lrose City burned.
Sirens wailed across the skyline, and in the distance, entire districts flickered under bursts of lightning.
"Shit," he muttered. "Why won't these slum rats just die? Every ti there's a problem, it starts with them."
He was blaming the citizens for the chaos erupting in the city.
Across the room, his aide Dackerie hesitated. "Boss, we still don't know if the corrosion outbreak ca from the poor districts. There's no proof…"
"Don't argue with ," Shawn snapped. "Where the hell is Cyara? Didn't I send people to fetch her? That spoiled brat always finds the worst ti to sneak back into the city. What does she think we are…her servants?"
The Atheris family had already contacted him, ordering that Cyara be retrieved and protected. In Silver City she was a princess.
Here, she was an inconvenience.
"We sent an escort to pick her up," Dackerie said quietly. "But the streets are in chaos. It's hard to locate anyone."
"Useless," Shawn hissed.
He leaned back against his desk, swirling a glass of brandy he hadn't touched. "Prom night, of all nights. Maybe the plague took care of that Dan Dark and his little girlfriend Eryn Veyran."
He smirked… then the entire floor lurched.
A deafening boom followed, and every window shattered inward.
"What the hell—!?" Shawn shouted as shards of glass rained across his office.
Before he could react, a beam of blinding plasma tore through the tower's upper floors, ripping apart its force field barriers like paper. The blast punched through his office wall—and from the smoke, a dark figure streaked in.
It was Black Halo.
Shawn froze, his heart hamring. "Black Halo… you…"
But Dan didn't stop. He shot through the office, leaving a trail of crackling energy, and blasted out of sight through the other end of the building without a word.
Shawn blinked. "Did he just.. co in and disappear?"
Dackerie's voice trembled. "You won't say that if you look behind you."
Shawn turned…and his breath stopped.
Outside the ruined window lood a head as large as the tower itself. Flesh dripped from its skull like molten wax. Its body stretched downward into a mountainous heap of fused corpses, all groaning and twitching in unison.
The at Heap roared.
Its colossal arm ca down and slamd into Zetheris Tower. The building's external shields flared, sparks scattering like fireflies…
"Boss, we should leave now," Dackerie urged.
Shawn barely glanced away from the window, where the massive creature hamred at his tower's barrier. "It's not that easy to break a Zetheris force field," he said, smirking.
"It's still better to be safe. SOP says we secure your evacuation first," Dackerie pressed.
With visible reluctance, Shawn finally turned. "Fine."
Dackerie and the security team surrounded him, guiding him up the ergency stairs toward the rooftop. Helicopters were already waiting, engines roaring over the chaos.
They boarded quickly and lifted off, circling high above the tower.
From their vantage point, the at Heap lood below like a living mountain, its deford body slamming against the barrier again and again. The impacts sent ripples of blue light across the tower's shimring shield.
But the force field held.
Shawn watched with growing confidence. "See? The blob can't breach our force field," he said smugly. "Even the Veyrans couldn't bring down our defenses with their siege engines. This thing's just—at."
Below, the monster roared and struck again.
The helicopter rattled.
Then, without warning, the air changed—an eerie stillness before the storm.
A sound like glass breaking split the sky.
The force field shattered.
"How can this be possible?" Shawn scread from his helicopter.
Blue shards of light fell like rain as the next blow ripped through steel and concrete alike. The upper levels exploded outward. An arm of the at Heap snapped off, splattering chunks of corrosive flesh that rained through the breached floors.
They poured into the building through the cracks, devouring everything in their path.
Deep beneath the basent, Dan smiled. "We tried everything to break in here before….and in the end, all it took was a blob of at."
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